The majority of undergraduates lack advanced reasoning patterns, which are necessary for significant achievement in college science courses. The purpose of this paper is to review the studies of various instructional practices in introductory college biology courses that claim to develop reasoning. Most of these were non-traditional,…

It is hard and getting harder to strike a satisfying balance in teaching. Time dedicated to student-generated models or ideas is often sacrificed in an effort to "get through the syllabus." I describe a series of RNA interference (RNAi) experiments for undergraduate students that simultaneously explores fundamental concepts in gene regulation,…

In this article, the author gives basic information on constructing a wind tunnel that teachers can use for instructional activities with their students for many years to come. He illustrates and describes the procedure and materials that he developed in constructing his own wind tunnel. This information should be viewed as a guide. (Contains 1…

Mental models of metallic bonding held by learners from three academic levels, secondary school (year 12), undergraduate, and postgraduate, were probed using semistructured interviews including the use of Interviews-About-Events focus cards depicting metallic properties and cards containing depictions of models from curriculum material. The…

A high school hockey team is playing the last of three games in one day. The game gets rough, and the star player is slammed against the boards. Injured, he is escorted off the ice. This case follows his health as it deteriorates over the next several hours. Students are presented with the hockey player's symptoms, and they use their knowledge of…

The time and effort spent during the first days of a new semester are key to the success of the class that lies ahead. What happens during these first days can set a tone that inspires students to work actively and cooperatively to achieve success in the new semester, or to sit back and assume a "here we go again" attitude. In this article, the…

Does the use of an online homework system such as WebAssign (http://webassign.net) in an introductory astronomy course affect student performance? Four sections of introductory astronomy were compared in various homework situations, from no graded homework to graded homework online. Results show that there are no significant differences in…

This article describes the use of the "glabrous1 (g11)" mutant and constitutively active "(CA)-rop2" transgenic plants of "Arabidopsis thaliana" in teaching genetics laboratory for both high school and undergraduate students. The experiments provide students with F[subscript 1] and F[subscript 2] generations within a semester for genetic and…

This article is the first of a two-part review of research on children's and adults understanding of gravity and on how best to teach gravity concepts to students and teachers. This first article concerns free fall--how and why objects fall when they are dropped. The review begins with a brief historical sketch of how these ideas were developed in…

Researchers in the field of bioinformatics have developed a number of analytical programs and databases that are increasingly important for advancing biological research. Because bioinformatics programs are used to analyze, visualize, and/or compare biological data, it is likely that the use of these programs will have a positive impact on biology…

Arguing that the use of video in science instruction is an effective way to infuse both action and emotion into the educational setting, this paper chronicles faculty efforts at Brevard Community College (BCC), in Cocoa, Florida, to develop videos for science instruction and provides recommendations for producing similar videos. Following a…

The College Science Instrumentation Program (CSIP) was developed to provide seed money matching funds for the acquisition of laboratory instrumentation in order to improve the quality of undergraduate science/engineering education. This report describes the impact of the program and the program characteristics during the years 1985-87. An…

This book explains why so few efforts at reforming science education are successful, and why it is that the 300 studies on the subject published over the past decade have done little more than add to a growing body of literature. The book describes programs which are successful in terms of faculty accomplishments, students graduated and entering…

This study tested two hypotheses: (1) that significant differences exist, across academic levels, in science teachers' conceptions about the nature of learning; and (2) that corresponding differences exist in how science teachers formulate, carry out, and monitor instruction/classroom activities, and in the kinds of study activities they encourage…

Within the past several years of education reform, portfolios and other types of performance-based assessment have come to be recognized as viable alternatives to standardized tests. This report discusses insights gained through the use of portfolios at the university level with preservice students and their field-based experiences. Although…